Yeah, his mistake was putting his hand on your vehicle.
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Incident at the gas station
- Thread starter Gorn
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Yeah, his mistake was putting his hand on your vehicle.
I would have called 911 and at least had a patrol unit come out so I could get a call number and an Officer's name for reference. That way if gas station guy decided to call later and embellish the story, it would make it harder to make my life difficult.
If someone tried to open my car door during an argument, he'd be in much worse shape than the guy in this situation. You didn't handle things perfectly, but you didn't do anything horribly wrong (save for not staying in the car and leaving when he decided to get stupid).
Of course, in NY anyone can call 911 and take out a report against anyone else, get a warrant issued, get them arrested, etc. for damn near any reason, up to and including a complete fabrication. Then it's up to the defendant to deal with it in court.
Oh, and the statute on a Petit Larceny is one year from the date of occurrence. Doubtful you have anything to worry about, but still, that's a generous time frame to engage in creative story telling.
If someone tried to open my car door during an argument, he'd be in much worse shape than the guy in this situation. You didn't handle things perfectly, but you didn't do anything horribly wrong (save for not staying in the car and leaving when he decided to get stupid).
Of course, in NY anyone can call 911 and take out a report against anyone else, get a warrant issued, get them arrested, etc. for damn near any reason, up to and including a complete fabrication. Then it's up to the defendant to deal with it in court.
Oh, and the statute on a Petit Larceny is one year from the date of occurrence. Doubtful you have anything to worry about, but still, that's a generous time frame to engage in creative story telling.
Sounds good. I wasn't sure if you felt people are responsible for their own mistakes.
Regarding prepay: Yeah, I stick my credit card in the slot and fill up my tank all the way. No running in to stand line and deal with the cashier, and I have to refill less often. Easy peasy.
I'm just saying that, in my opinion, you're not entitled to free gas because an attendant made a mistake. If you got $27 worth of gas, you should pay $27 for it. I don't see how it is relevant that it was prepaid vs. post-paid, or cash vs. credit, or New York City vs. anywhere else.
Suppose you buy something in a store for $7, hand the cashier a $10 bill, and he/she gives you $13 dollars in change -- erroneously thinking that you had given him/her a 20 instead of a 10. What do you do? Do you pocket the extra $10 error, or do you point out the error and offer to give back the 10 bucks?
As a guy who worked at a gas station for years, it's legally on the attendant, at least in PA.
Your analogy doesn't apply. Fuel pumps in New York City work in the way I described. If he had done his job correctly, I should not have been able to pump more than twenty dollars. He was responsible for the overage. You're entitled to your opinion but your opinion isn't based on the reality of the situation and how it works.
Reminds me of being thirteen and collecting for the newspapers I threw every morning. Went to collect from one fellow. He told me. Yes I owe you for your papers. Tomorrow morning you will find your money in the bush out front where you have left my papers..... It sucks trying to find cash in a bush at the butt crack of dawn....
The customer decides how much he wants to spend not the clerk by doing mistakes and threatening.
Gorn really I think you lost your opportunity. The clerks whole issue is he don't want his till short. Probably comes off the top of his meager paycheck.
I bet if the boy had approached you and apologized for the problem he created... Well I bet you would have found seven bucks change under your seat and drove away a little miffed at the whole deal.
What the boy needed is a life lesson. Had you given up the seven bucks and spent your TB time contacting the corporate office about his horrible demeanor, that clerk would be sweeping driveways or standing in unemployment. Check, Gorn wins. Probably even get a twenty buck free gas gift card from corporate in apology for your unfortunate experience. Checkmate, set and match, Gorn wins again.
By driving away with seven bucks of the corporate goods you lose all credibility with the corporation. Regardless of bonehead clerks attitude, you are no more than a petty thief to the corporate wigs.
All kidding aside, he who keeps his cool in the face of idiocy positions himself for the win. Just my two cents.
I bet if the boy had approached you and apologized for the problem he created... Well I bet you would have found seven bucks change under your seat and drove away a little miffed at the whole deal.
What the boy needed is a life lesson. Had you given up the seven bucks and spent your TB time contacting the corporate office about his horrible demeanor, that clerk would be sweeping driveways or standing in unemployment. Check, Gorn wins. Probably even get a twenty buck free gas gift card from corporate in apology for your unfortunate experience. Checkmate, set and match, Gorn wins again.
By driving away with seven bucks of the corporate goods you lose all credibility with the corporation. Regardless of bonehead clerks attitude, you are no more than a petty thief to the corporate wigs.
All kidding aside, he who keeps his cool in the face of idiocy positions himself for the win. Just my two cents.
Sorry, but I don't see the difference. Your argument seems to be that you are entitled to whatever benefits you receive as a result of someone else having made a mistake. I just don't see how there is any difference between a cashier erroneously giving you the wrong change, on the one hand, versus a gas attendant pushing a wrong button to constrain your gas pump on the other.
Alkali Ike
Gold Supporting Member
- Jan 1, 2011
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- I never actually learned to play very well
20/20 Hindsight: You should have insisted on speaking to the station manager before things escalated & then driving away. I would have complained to the mgr. and then depending on his/her attitude possibly paid the extra $7.
Except once the gas is in the tank, it isn't as easy as reaching into a pocket and returning the money. Plus the whole attitude and action of the attendant sounds out of line. That's where he would have lost my cooperation as well.
No matter how you try to rationalize this, you were the one who pumped $27 of gas into the tank.
No rationalization is necessary. He prepaid with cash. The attendant is responsible for the cutoff. He is responsible.
Wow. So it wasn't Gorn's hand that worked the pump? Come on.
Wow. So it wasn't the cashier's hand that worked the register? Come on.
Even if the cashier made a mistake, he still pumped more gas than he paid for.
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